Probably due to relative inactivity this year because I’ve largely been working from home, and the fact I’ve hit a middle aged milestone (40) this summer, I seem to have developed Sciatica in my left leg of late! I did have a bout of it in the summer, but it seemed to disappear with a little more bike riding in the end. Not getting out much right now due to weather/motivation/short daylight hours etc. and it’s causing me quite a bit of gyp!

I’ve gone through a few youtube vids and tried a few exercises, they seem to give some very short term pain relief but little more. Anybody who has suffered got any sure fire ways to fix it that I can practice myself in the confines of my own home (or at least on a walk with the dog) or that the GF can help me with? Up until March, I was swimming once or twice a week which was obviously helping keep it at bay, but not likely to return to a community pool any time soon sadly.

Sciatica or piriformis syndrome?

The last 3 of Abi’s stretches inparticular work a treat for me, just go easy with them & don’t try to match her flexibility!!!

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/loosen-up-tight-hips-with-3-types-of-poses-monthly-yoga-with-abi-2017.html

Or a dodgy disc or two? That’s what they eventually found out was the source of my sciatica.

Sciatica or piriformis syndrome?

Good question… Hadn’t even heard of that, does sound a possibility.

don’t try to match her flexibility!!!

Way ahead of you there… I know my limits! 😂

This one also works a treat for me:

You used to / drive a lot, is it the right side? From many years of driving a huge amount my right accelerator / brake legs glutes / piriformis hold chronic tension made worse by sitting for long periods.

Have a Google and see if the hat fits.

Walking, squats, planks and lunges along with foam roller work and stretching.

Takes time but just keep at.

My g/f suffers from it, she basically stands in one spot all day, she works on the tills at B&M, which probably has something to do with it.

Something along these lines is what gets me out of bed every morning, regardless of whether I have work to go to or not. Lay-ins are a distant memory 🙁

About 20 mins after I wake up each morning, whichever side I’m laying on, that sides ass-cheek/upper outer thigh starts aching so much I can’t continue laying in bed. It goes away if I lay on my back but I can’t sleep laying on my back – so I just get up and put the kettle on.

I had piriformis which felt like sciatica. Classic too-tight jeans with a wallet in the back pocket. That wallet presses on the nerve when sat down in an office chair, especially with crossed legs. Took about two weeks to reverse.

Hope you feel better soon.

I’ve got a popped disc in my back which gives me sciatica. Amongst other triggers, too much sitting brings it on. If I was working from home, not moving much and sitting down all day, I’d have some pretty decent sciatica pain in a couple of days. So if you’re spending all day sitting, make sure you’re sitting properly, getting up to move etc. Stretches and so forth don’t do a lot for me but a walk round the block every now and then really helps.

(Obviously, this is specific to me etc)

Sciatica or piriformis syndrome?

Get a professional diagnosis.

If sciatica due ruptured disc, you gonna want to be careful not to make it make it worse. I had emergency surgery when that happened to me.

I had a bad case of Sciatica last year, eventually took 6 months to fully resolve itself. It was very painful when it first struck – felt like the whole of my left leg was going to explode, and took 2-3 hours for the pain to ease after taking some Naproxen. Pretty scary at the time as I wasn’t aware of what it could be.

After a day or two the pain reduced to a dull ache, similar to a tooth ache my from my calf to my buttock. This carried on for a number of weeks. The first physio I saw gave me standard stretches which helped a little but the dull constant pain wouldn’t go away. Sitting, standing, lying down was no different.

After a few weeks went to a different physio and they spotted I had a slight lean to one side in my upper body. Got me to do some stretches side to side against a wall and I could almost instantly feel the pain subside. Couldn’t believe I’d been struggling for so long when such a simple exercise helped. The physio told me my Sciatica was a result of lower back pain getting too much for my body so it ‘moved’ the pain down my leg. The physio we did moved the pain back to my lower back area where we could deal with it. First off by stretching, then trying to improve and maintain core strength.

I did tell the physio I MTB’d and they suggested changing my climbing technique to sit down more as I peddle to reduce the pressure on my lower back that riding out of the saddle caused. Treated myself to a new 29er FS this year and the modern geometry is great for me and I never have any back pain after a ride – something I did used to get time to time with my old 26er that had mid-00’s geo.

Appreciate every case is different but if anyone would like any PDF stretch documents I have from the second Physio send me a DM with your email address and I will forward them on in case they are any use.

It’s a depressing and debilitating condition and I hope you feel better soon! When you can, I would suggest consulting a professional to properly diagnose your issue.

Lots of good advice above. Glute bridges, pigeon poses, hamstring stretches (these make a big difference IME), tennis ball rolling in the glute and lots of core work.

Check saddle height.

Assumes it’s not something more serious, as mentioned above.

I had similar, in my left leg too. Didn’t really twig at the time, but it all started to happen after a big stack and shoulder dislocation. Physio also spotted a big leftwards inbalance in my posture too, which was probably always there, but maybe worse after the incident. As above – road to recover was lots of stretching, pilates for core strength and increasing in gentle exercise (which was agony at first cos i’d walk for 5 minutes then have to stop and stretch for a few to be able to carry on). They reckoned not anyone thing in particular, but probably nerve damage sustained in the crash brought it on. Also put me on a vit B (I think) course (for nerve regeneration?). All good now, and some morning stretches are a permanent part of getting up now.

I had it for years after a back injury (worn vert and 2x squashed cartilage resulted in awkward posture to relieve the pain)
Had a few painful sessions of physio but never went back after the embarrassment of my package falling out of some particularly loose box shorts.

My mother persuaded me to try some of ‘that reiki nonsense’

Cured it after 2 sessions and sticking to the advise given on posture correction 👍

@spekkie, I feel your pain, literally. I also prefer sleeping on my side but lower back pain sometimes prevents this. Have you tried sleeping on your side with a pillow folded double between your knees. This was recommended to my wife after child birth problems and it really makes a difference to my back pain. It feels as though it prevents the back twisting as you lay on your side keeping it in a straighter line.

In fact I’d recommend this for any lower back pain, a couple of days with a pillow in the knees generally sorts out my flare ups for quite a while.

Pillow between the knees is surprisingly effective! I’ve also used it under knees when lying on my back although this was to sort something else.

Something I’d put out there for any and all back related issues is quads and hip flexor stretches, especially after watching this very simple video which explained it better than anyone else ever had.

I think this was the root cause of most of my back issues (which resulted in surgery for a herniated disc) but since I’ve become more rigorous with stretching quads and hip flexors and strengthening the lower abs (TVA) it has helped to reduce strain on low back muscles, which in turn has helped reduce spasms, which in turn has reduce a lot of the nasty pressure and compressive forces that my discs were subjected to.

Sorry this isn’t entirely relevant OP but it might help in general terms.

Assuming there isn’t something serious, try “foundation Training original 12 minutes” on YouTube. As others have said, have a look of an imbalance such as rotated hips. Working from home, I set an alarm for every 25 mins to get me out of the office chair for 5 mins.